


The Follow Up

by RyanTyler2294



Series: A Tiny Scandal [2]
Category: DC Animated Universe, DC Cinematic Universe, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-09 00:56:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8869519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyanTyler2294/pseuds/RyanTyler2294
Summary: Lois continues her investigation of Wayne Enterprises and drops a bombshell on Bruce. All the while she's trying to see if she can get Clark to finally tell her about his boyfriend.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I ended up turning this into a short series! Ya! You can expect one or two more after this fic.

“You want to do a follow-up?” Clark looked over his glasses as he glanced up at Lois who was crowding the entrance of his cubical. He seemed ill at ease the moment she cut off his only escape route.

“Yeah. There are a few things that I wanted to clarify. I was just hoping to get a phone number or email address from you so I can contact him.” Lois explained.

“Sure.” Clark was shuffling through his desk trying to find where he had written the information. Lois was patient as she pretends to not know that Clark had all the information memorized already. You would think he would just rattle off numbers, and explain that he was relying on his eidetic memory. But no, he went the extra length so he could appear to not be too familiar with Wayne.

“Here it is,” Clark quickly jotted the information down on a piece of paper before he handed it to Lois. “The first number is his office, the second is his personal assistant.”

“Thanks again Smallville,” She plucked the paper from his hand. “Do you think if I mention I’m your friend to his assistant that they’ll push me through faster?”

Clark shrugged, “He’s in town right now. So I doubt he’ll be too busy to do a short interview.”

“He is?” She tried to keep her tone innocent, but she couldn’t fight back the surprise in her voice. Why would Kent know if he’s in town? Because he’s dating the billionaire that’s why!  She wanted to say something right then but thought better of it. They were in the office in the middle of a work day before a deadline. The office was congested now. There were better chances of someone overhearing them.  It would embarrass Clark if she said anything now. Still, she couldn’t get over the fact that he hadn’t told her about this yet. They were friends, right? Friends tell each other about these kinds of things.

“Conferences. It’s a big discussion on the “New Face of Business,” Clark did air quotes as he talked. “One of the seminars is on trying to make the work environment more worker friendly. There are all these debates about pay, changing what offices look like, and better resources for workers. But making all these changes are expensive and most companies don’t want to do any more than the minimum.”

“Why is Wayne there?”

“He’s one of the leaders when it comes to the movement. He provides babysitting facilities, catered lunches, better ventilations.”

“Singing the playboy's praises I see.”

“I’m just quoting the facts,” He gave her one of his playful smiles before turning back to the computer. “Anything else that you needed.”

“Do you know where he’s staying?” Lois leaned against the cubical wall. If the conferences are in Metropolis then he must be somewhere in town.

“No clue,” Clark didn’t turn to face her when he answered. It left her in the perfect position to see the way the back of his neck turned pink like it always does when he’s lying.

“Thanks for this then,” She waved the card in the air before starting to head back to her desk, “See you at lunch.”

“I made plans for the lunch break.”

“Really?” This made Lois turn on her heels. “Hot date?”

“Potential interview. One of my sources. Long story.” He waved it off like it was nothing, but Lois knew Clark. This had nothing to do with work.

“Let me know how it goes,” She gave one last farewell before departing.

The first state of business was calling to see if Wayne was willing to talk again. It didn’t take that long for his assistant to get back to her.

“If you’re willing to meet at his hotel,” the male receptionist sounded tired. No doubt this was the kind of invitation all the female reporters got. “He’s free around six thirty.”

“I’ll take it,” She agreed to it, pen poised to take down the address and room number. Once she got it she gave the guy one last thanks before hanging up.

Next was reorganizing her notes so that she had the best possible questions. She pushed her thoughts about Clark aside. She had uncovered something pretty groundbreaking in the past few days. She wanted to question him on and fill in the blanks of some of her interview questions from last week.

Then she decided to take a better look at the New Face of Business conferences that Clark mentioned. It was taking place in Metropolis. A lot of topics were being discussed. Wayne was one of the main speakers when it came to helping workers in the workplace. She found it ironic, knowing what she knows. 

What also stuck out to her, was that this conference had been going on all week. Now that she thinks about it, Clark had left the office a few times for his lunch break. All this week he’d been leaving on time instead of pulling late hours. For a moment she was aggravated with herself for letting that kind of detail slip past her. She was an investigative journalist for crying out loud! That was almost as good as being a detective, and it meant she should be better at spotting these kinds of things.

Stupid. She sighed. She felt blind, like Clark could be Superman standing right in front of her and she still wouldn’t catch it. That aside, Clark was pretty secretive when it came to his personal life. He didn’t trust as easily as he appeared that he would. Even being his friend for a few years, there were still a lot of holes in his history. Maybe she didn’t realize that she was a work friend all this time.

She wouldn’t be surprised if Clark was the kind to draw that line.

Before she knew it, it was lunch time and Clark was hustling out the office. Perry raised an eyebrow.

“Going out for lunch again Kent?” Perry asked.

“I’ll be back on time,” Was the only promise that Clark made.

~.~.~.~.~

Of course, Wayne was staying in the most prestigious hotel in the area. It only made sense with how much money he had. Lois couldn’t say she wouldn’t do the same. What did take her by surprise was that he didn’t have his usual penthouse booked. He had a suit on one of the upper floors. It was designed to be more like an apartment more than a hotel room.

The elevator ride up gave her time to clear her head and focus on the task at hand. She was here about her story, not to interrogate Wayne about Clark, no matter how much she wanted to. What does a billionaire want with a journalist anyway? Not to downplay Clark. He was a great guy, but there was something about this that didn’t sit right with her.

She got to the door, and just like the last time, all she could hear was a ruckus coming from the inside of the room. He must not have gone the extra mile to get sound proofing. She knocked loudly, remembering how Clark did it before.

Once again she was met by a disheveled looking Bruce Wayne. His hair was wild like he hadn’t taken the time to do it since he woke up. He was in a more casual style of dress. Just a pair of sweatpants and his Gotham Knights hoodie, which had a jelly hand print on one side peanut butter on the other. It was smudged like he tried to wipe it off, but it still ended up covered in crumbs and lint. 

“Come in,” He opened the door and step aside for her. “Sorry about the mess.”

“They don’t give you a break do they?” She attempted small talk as she looked around. The toys were mostly concentrated on the rug in the center of the floor. She could hear the kids fighting, but she couldn’t see them. There was yelling followed by a high pitched scream of a child not getting their way.

“They don’t,” Wayne sighed.

Dick Grayson suddenly rounded the corner dressed like he was ready to go out. He was clearly in a rush texting frantically as he walked.

“Bruce, I’m heading out,” Dick stopped at the door knowing that he had to wait for permission.

“When will you be back?”

“What’s my curfew?’ Dick gave him a hopeful smile.

“Ten.”

“Ten-thirty?” Dick tried smiling a little bigger, a little more innocent.

“Nine-thirty?” Bruce mimicked his tone.

“Ten is good.” Dick decided.

“Keep your phone on,” Bruce instructed. “Be safe. Call if you need me.”

“Alright,” And Dick was out the door.

“Anyways,” Bruce turned back to Lois to give her his full attention.

“Hold on I’ll ask him right now,” Jason rounded the corner phone in hand. He was excited about whatever was being discussed on the phone. He looked almost giddy before he said. “There’s a monster truck rally, and Roy got tickets. Can I go?”

“Who else is going?”

“Just us and Ollie, he’s the one who managed to get the tickets.”

“Have fun,” Bruce gave him the approval that was needed.

“Thanks, Bruce,” Jason was busying himself getting his shoes grabbing his wallet. All the while his phone was pressed to his face by his shoulder. “He said yes. Yeah, I’ll be ready when you get here.”

“Anyways,” Bruce tried again. “My assistant told me that you had some follow-up questions that just couldn’t wait.”

“There are just a few things I wanted to clarify.” She nodded. Bruce was sweeping crumbs off the couch to give her a place to sit.

“If it’s about the conference then I should let you know that Kent already beat you to that interview.”

“I had a feeling about that,” Lois nodded. “It’s my own fault. I didn’t even know there was a conference until today.”

“He didn’t let you know about it?” Bruce quirked an eyebrow like he was curious about the situation. Something about the look translated to her as smug. He looked happy that Clark hadn’t let her know about the conference.

“So I was looking into some of your record about your business and…”

“I’m out,” Jason called from the hall.

“Me too!” Tim waved.

“Be back on time,” Bruce gave Tim a pointed looked.

Once they were gone Damien made his entrance, crying. His face was screwed up as tears and snot leaked from his face. He went right up to Bruce making unintelligent noises as he tried to communicate what was wrong. 

Bruce’s face soften when he saw the crying child. He leaned down and said, “I want to know what’s wrong Damien, but you have to use your words.”

“I don’t have to conform to your ways,” Was the tearful response he got.

“When you want to talk, I’ll be here.” Bruce sighed, realizing that he wasn’t going to get an explanation out of the boy. Damien huffed and went to the rug where his toys were and sat down amongst them.

Bruce sat back up and motioned for Lois to continue.

“Like I was saying, I was looking through your records and found some inconsistencies. There are some charities, that Wayne Enterprises claim to donate to, who say they never received those funds. When I broadened my search, I found that some employees in the Gotham branch say that they haven’t seen an accurate paycheck in the almost a year.  Every time they complain they receive silence from you.”

She looked up in just enough time to watch him process the information she had just presented to him. It was wrong, but she took pleasure in the shocked expression on his face and the way his mouth gaped like a goldfish. Got ya, she thought.

“This is news to me,” Wayne pulled out his phone. “Give me a second.”

He was probably calling his lawyer to let him know what was up.

“Terry, I need you to look into something real quick.” His jaw was set in a hard line and he had that same look he had when she mentioned Luther. Instead of cruelty lurking under his eyes, it was anger. He was livid as he explained to his receptionist what he wanted to be checked. “How long?” Bruce sighed running his fingers through his hair. “How much….for fuck sake,” Bruce took the phone away from his face as he looked up at the ceiling.

The cussing got Damien’s attention. The little boy looked worried. Bruce’s eyes widened when he realized that he alerted the child, and he held up his hand to him know it was okay.

“No don’t let the others know. I don’t want to sound the alarm,” Bruce was leaning against the wall with his back towards Lois and Damien. “No, you don’t need to look into it right now. Go home and get some sleep and we’ll find out who’s been taking what first thing in the morning.” He sighed again mumbling something to himself as he took a deep breath.

“Everything okay?”  Lois asked a bit concerned.

“Everything will be,” He sat back down. “Thank you for bringing that to my attention. Someone must be forging paperwork in my bookkeeping. Otherwise, I should have caught this early on.”

“No problem. I’m just curious. Um…how did that much many managed to slip past you.”

“Well it is Gotham,” Bruce shrugged. “Corruption runs thick. It’s like an art and the ones who are the best at it are Masters. Not just in organized crime, but in business as well. I would have thought you would have puzzled that out, right? That is why you’re weary of me because I’m from Gotham.”

“I’m not weary of you,” Lois said. “I just want to get the facts.”

“I’m sure,” he gave one of those flirtatious billionaire smiles. “What I’m trying to say is, in order to get away with cyphering money it takes skill with today’s technology. If you talk to the right people in Gotham, you’ll find that each sec of crime is like a trade. But I should thank you for telling me about this.”

“You really didn’t know, did you?” It was said more to herself than to Bruce.

“You sound disappointed.”

“I’m far from it. It is nice to see someone with a conscious now in days,” Lois smiled softly. “But I’m not going to take you at face value. I’m defiantly going to be following how this story develops.”

“Everyone else got to go somewhere,” Damien suddenly interrupted. “They’re always going out, and they never want to play with me.” He was holding a stuffed bear to his chest. “It’s not fair.”

“I’ll let you be for the night,” Lois could see how this situation was starting to deteriorate. “Maybe we can reschedule for another time?”

“I’ll be in Metropolis for the rest of the week,” Bruce was off the couch and picking a pouting Damien up. “Talk to my assistant and he’ll set up the appointment.” He was bouncing the boy in his arms as he spoke.

“Thank you. I’ll let myself out,” She said before bidding him goodnight. She could still hear him talking with Damien as he walked to the door.

“We’ll do something altogether tomorrow okay.” Bruce kept his voice soothing as he tried to comfort the boy.

“It’s not going to be because they want to,” Damien sulked.

“Yes, it will. We just have to find something you can all enjoy doing together. And guess what?”

“What?”

“There’s someone who’s going to stop by to see you.”

That caught Lois’s attention. She was already halfway out the door, but she had a good idea who he was referring to. It’s why she took it upon herself to linger around the entrance of the hotel. Realizing that doing so made her stick out, she went across the street to the café. She grabbed a window seat in the corner with a cup of coffee.

After about twenty minutes, she realized just how ridiculous this whole thing was. She was staking out Wayne’s place just to see if Clark was going to come around. It wasn’t even like she had a hunch she was trying to prove. She’d seen them together, she knew they were a couple. Catching Clark here wouldn’t change that, and it wouldn’t make him say anything to her.

She sighed and got up from her spot and started to head home. It would be easier to take the train back than to try and catch a taxi at this time of day. She had just turned the corner just in time to bump into Clark.

“Hey,” She smiled and waved.

“Hey,” He didn’t look happy to see her. He shifted his weight a little trying to maneuver so that the bag he had in his hand was behind him. He was trying to act casual, but he was clearly uneasy seeing her here.

“How’d the interview go?”

“Not that bad,” She shrugged. “Things didn’t go as planned, but I still got some stuff, and managed to reschedule to talk to him another time. What are you doing on this side of town?”

“Stopping in for a visit since Bruce is hardly ever in town.”

“You weren’t joking when you said you guys were friends.”

“Why would I lie about that?”

She shrugged. It’s still hard for her to believe that Playboy Bruce Wayne managed to seduce Mild Manner Clark Kent. It didn’t even make sense that they somehow became friends. Then again she didn’t have the full story because Clark never bothered to tell her the full story.

“What’s in the bag?” She changed subjects.

“Oh,” He pulled it out from behind him. “Just some toys for Damien. I try to bring something over for the kids when I visit.”

“That’s sweet,” She smiled. It was so like Clark to go out of his way to do something like that. “I’ll let you get going. I have to get back across town and I’m pretty sure I’m keeping you from your date.”

Clark blushed and sputtered, “M-m-y w-what?”

“Your play date with Damien,” Lois gave him a teasing smile. Clark visibly relaxed at those words. “Have fun.”

“See you tomorrow,” Clark gave one last wave before continuing on his way

Lois watched him go, and let out yet another sigh. She would either have to wait for him to say something or set him up to catch him in a lie and make him explain it. The last one seemed cruel. It wasn’t hard to get Clark flustered and backed into a corner. That left her having to play the waiting game, for now.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think.


End file.
